eZ Navi Delete Project

NorthStyle

I second that. However, for the DAC be sure to check the power requirements. I'm running the NextDrive Spectra X and had to add a USB toggle since it would pull power from the tablet even when the car was off. But, the DAC increased the audio quality IMMENSELY over using just the 3.5mm...

Another thing, you'll also need a USB OTG hub and a 5pin OTG cable so you can use the DAC and have the tablet charge at the same time. I mine from Newegg (came from China thought).

bigaudiofanat

Workshop is selling the kit with a USB hub that should supply the right amount of voltage.

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radensb

Keep in mind that USB OTG is a broken standard. Not everyone implements the interface the same and as a result you need a specific combination of device and OTG charge capable hub. I have messed with this a great deal. Even if the device shows its charging, the USB charge handshake may only be allowing minimal charge current, so your device slowly discharges while on. With the Brainiac product, I suspect that it is at least breaking even, but I think you also need to do some work to allow the device to power up and sleep based on the car power state so that you don't drain the tablet sitting in the garage and you have to use the tablet they are using.

The Android car stereo that I installed is ~$45 more than that DAC alone and you still need to buy the android tablet device and the interface box. That's going to be way more than expensive and you still dont have basic car stereo features. This may be acceptable for you, but was a deal breaker for me. Most importantly - its not compatible with Navi models, which is the whole point of my project. Remove the Navi model limitations. Then any system is possible, including the Brainiac.

radensb

Success! I know a few of you have been interested in this and I found time to do some more debugging on this project and have been using this setup in my car for a few months now without issue. I have full control over the CAN AC system in real time without any hiccups. I was having issues with the test platform on my bench not matching the reality of the CAN bus in the car and trying to develop and debug the code in the drivers seat was miserable. So, I brought the CAN bus traffic to by bench! I wired up a connector to an Ethernet cable and ran it from my Z's dash in the garage, up into the attic, and down into my office to my bench. I could then turn the car on and scope the traffic as my board was consuming and responding to it! Within a few hours, I found the corner cases that were causing the code to hang up. I am convinced that I would have never been able to reproduce those conditions on my bench.....




Now that this is stable and working, I plan on creating a GitHub repo soon to upload the current state of the hardware and software for those interested. While the code is fully functioning as an AC controller interface, there are a few things that I want to clean up first and document future interfaces I want to add.

Check it out in action in my new stereo install!

radensb

To all those interested, please check out this thread.

eZ Navi Delete Interest/Availability